scaramouche

...born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad

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User: scaramouche
Irreverent, contrarian, delighted to be out of synch with the zeitgeist, I depend on my sense of humour (such as it is) to keep me sane in this wacky world.

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Thursday, 01 October 2009

Freedom of information--for an exorbitant fee: Vancouver writer Terry O’Neil had a hunch that Commissar Jennifer Lynch’s capacious dossier full of scathing, ideologically impure utterances may have included one or more items penned by him. So, as is his right as a Canadian, he duly filled out a “Freedom of Information” request, hoping to see what, if anything, of his turned up. I’ll let O’Neil, writing in the National Post, take it from there (no link as yet; will post it when it appears):
Alas, Ms. Throop informed me in a three-page missive that any further digging by the CHRC to fulfill my request would entail email searches, typing and reading involving up to 100 employees and 6,284 hours of government time at $10 per hour, hence the $62,840 figure, of which I was requested to immediately send half ($31,420) to Ottawa to enable my request to proceed. Either that, or narrow my search and reduce the cost accordingly.
Got that? Because Jen’s dossier is so frikkin’ full, it’s too expensive for her wonks to wade through it and extract individual items. Mind you, the CHRC and its provincial/territorial counterparts have no compunction about spending oodles of taxpayer shekels to harass, er, sorry, investigate the target of a complaint--an investigation that can and often does go on for multiple years.
In essence, we here in Canada have “freedom of information” to about the same extent that we have “freedom of speech.” (Or, as Kris Kristofferson once put it: “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.”)
What an outrage, and yet another reason to heed the words of Ezra Levant--whose three-year-long probe for “hate speech” by the Alberta Human Rights Commission at one point tied up 15, count ‘em 15, AHRC workers and I guarantee cost a lot more that $62,840--and (say it along with me)  FIRE. THEM. ALL.

Update: Here's the link: http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=2052589

Update: Sorry, Kris:

Busted flat by Ottawa, searchin’ through the file.
Jen has got a right thick dossier.
Pourin’ over pages there, reams and reams of stuff.
Tryin’ to find some words I once did say.
I took out a loan and put down cash for information.
They found some things that I had thought were lost.
A hundred full-time workers, sweat cascadin' down their brows,
They earned ev'ry penny that it cost
 
Freedom’s just another word for nuthin’ left to lose.
Information ain’t exactly free.
Speakin’ out was easy once ‘fore we got HRCs.
Speakin’ out is what once made us free.
Now nuthin’s free in our society…

Update: The name "Throop" is positively Dickensian. Or maybe 60s girl group-ish. How did that Throop Throop Song go--"If you wanna know if she loathes you so it's in her file (that's where it is)"?

Posted by: scaramouche at 10:28 | link | comments (1)


Comments:
#1  04 October 2009 - 07:05
 
It's so frustrating that the Conservatives have done squat about the HRC's outrageous behavior. You just know the Liberals won't touch this issue because they believe new immigrants are onside with the HRC. Three cheers for my MP, Keith Martin, one of the few Liberals to call for scrapping Section 13. I say Fire.Them.All. but getting rid of Section 13 would be a good first step.
Anonymous
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